The preliminary study of metallic stent implantation in combination with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with portal vein tumor thrombus / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the clinical efficiency of metallic stent implantation in combination with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with portal vein tumor thrombus.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>22 cases of HCC patients with portal vein tumor thrombus were devided into 2 groups: 10 patients (group A) recieved stent implantation in combination with conformal radiation therapy, 12 patients (group B) recieved stent implantation and transcatheter arterial chemoembolization. The adverse reactions, and liver function before and after treatment were compared between the two groups. The stent patency rate at 4, 6 and 12 months and the survival rate at 3, 6 and 12 months were followed up. Comparison of liver function was analyzed by Wilcoxon signed rank test. Comparison of stent patency rate curves and survival curves was analyzed by Log rank test.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The portal vein catheterization was successful in all the patients. The stents were successfully implanted by transhepatic portal vein approach, and portal vein stenosis was re-opened. There was no abdominal hemorrhage in all the patients, but there were symptoms of abdominalgia, fever, nausea, vomiting and flatulence of varying degrees after interventional operation, and these symptoms were relieved by symptomatic treatment in one week. All patients in group A completed the treatment. I-II degree gastrointestinal tract reactions occurred in 3 cases, I-II degree myelosuppression occurred in 2 cases, and they were all completely relieved after treatment. The stent patency rate at 4, 6 and 12 months was 90%, 70%, 30% in group A; and 50%, 25% , 16.7% in group B (P < 0.05). The survival rate at 3, 6 and 12 months was 100%, 80% , 30% in group A and 91.7%, 41.7%, 16.7% in group B (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Stent implantation combined with three-dimensional conformal radiation therapy is a good treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombus and causes less damage to liver.</p>

Postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy for pancreatic carcinoma patients after radical resection / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To retrospectively investigate the difference in survival of pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients treated by radical surgery with or without adjuvant radiation therapy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty-four patients with pancreatic cancer underwent surgical resection with a curative intent, and were divided into two groups: surgery alone (n = 24) or surgery combined with postoperative external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) (n = 20). Survival as an endpoint was analyzed between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All 44 patients completed their scheduled treatment. The median survival time of the patients treated with radical resection alone was 379 days versus 665 days for those treated with combined therapy. The 1-, 3-, 5-year survival rates of the patients treated with radical resection alone were 46.3%, 8.3%, 4.2% versus 65.2%, 20.2%, 14.1% for the patients treated with combined therapy, respectively, with a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.017). The failures in local-regional relapse were significantly lower in the postoperative EBRT group than that in the surgery alone group (P < 0.05), while the additional postoperative radiation therapy did not increase the complication rate (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Postoperative external beam radiation therapy can improve the survival in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.</p>